Wild Bees, Wasps and Ants and Other Stinging Insects

By Edward Saunders

The object of this little book is to give in as simple a form as possible a short account of some of the British Wild Bees, Wasps, Ants, etc., scientifically known as the Hymenoptera aculeata. Of these the non-scientific public rarely recognizes more than the Hive Bee, the Humble Bee, the Wasp, and the Hornet, whereas there are about 400 different kinds to be found in this country, and they can be recognized by any one who is disposed to make a special study of the group. These pages are written only for the non-scientific, as the scientific entomologist will be already familiar with the elementary facts recorded; but it is hoped that they may be of interest to lovers of Nature who wish to know a little about the insects they see around them and how they spend their lives. Of this knowledge very little exists, as the scraps which have been here brought together evidence. There is an immense field open for research and observation, and the writer of this little book will be very glad if the following pages should encourage anyone to take up the subject and add to our present scanty stock of information.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DigiCat
• Release date: Aug 10, 2022
• ISBN: 8596547159193

Book preview

Edward Saunders

Wild Bees, Wasps and Ants and Other Stinging Insects

EAN 8596547159193

DigiCat, 2022

Contact: [e-mail]

Table of Contents

PREFACE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

DESCRIPTION OF THE COLOURED PLATES

THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL

THE SOLITARY GROUPS

THE SOLITARY BEES

THE CUCKOO BEES

THE FOSSORS OR DIGGERS

THE SOLITARY WASPS

THE SOCIAL GROUPS

THE ANTS

THE SOCIAL WASPS

THE HUMBLE BEES

THE BEES WITH BIFID TONGUES

THE BEES WITH POINTED TONGUES

LEAF-CUTTING BEES

OSMIA AND ITS HABITS

A COLONY OF ANTHOPHORA

BEES AND POLLEN-COLLECTING

ON BEES' TONGUES, AND HOW THEY SUCK HONEY

A DREADFUL PARASITE

AMONGST THE BEES AT WORK

ANTS, THEIR GUESTS AND THEIR LODGERS

HOW CAN AN ACULEATE BE RECOGNIZED?

MALES AND FEMALES

THE VAGARIES OF COLOUR AND STRUCTURE IN THE SEXES

THE DISTRIBUTION, RARITY, OR ABUNDANCE OF VARIOUS SPECIES

ON BEES' WINGS

ON BREEDING ACULEATES, ETC.

ON COLOUR

THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSECTS FROM THE EGG

ON STRUCTURE

INDEX

Printers Mark

LONDON

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LIMITED

New York: E. P. DUTTON & CO.

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PREFACE

Table of Contents

The object of this little book is to give in as simple a form as possible a short account of some of the British Wild Bees, Wasps, Ants, etc., scientifically known as the Hymenoptera Aculeata. Of these the non-scientific public rarely recognizes more than the Hive Bee, the Humble Bee, the Wasp, and the Hornet, whereas there are about 400 different kinds to be found in this country, and they can be recognized by any one who is disposed to make a special study of the group.

The author has not hesitated to make free use of the experiences of others in regard to the habits of the insects he describes, and he has not thought it necessary in each case to make separate acknowledgment of this. He takes this opportunity of thanking Mr. H. Donisthorpe and Mr. F.W.L. Sladen for assistance in the chapters on Ants and their Lodgers, and Humble Bees, respectively.

These pages are written only for the non-scientific, as the scientific entomologist will be already familiar with the elementary facts recorded; but it is hoped that they may be of interest to lovers of Nature who wish to know a little about the insects they see round them and how they spend their lives. Of this knowledge very little exists, as the scraps which have been here brought together evidence. There is an immense field open for research and observation, and the writer of this little book will be very glad if the following pages should encourage any one to take up the subject and add to our present scanty stock of information.

EDWARD SAUNDERS.

St. Ann's, Woking.

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

Table of Contents

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DESCRIPTION OF THE COLOURED PLATES

Table of Contents

PLATE A

Figs. 1, 2, 3. Formica sanguinea Latr.: male, female, and worker. The host of Lomechusa (p. 89), also a slave-making species; makes irregular nests of dead leaves, etc., generally against a sloping bank.

Figs. 4, 5. Mutilla europæa Linn.: male and female. One of the few British species of Aculeates where the female is wingless; found in sandy places running in the sun.

Fig. 6. Cerceris arenaria L.: female; burrows in the sand, and provisions its nest with beetles (p. 20).

Fig. 7. Ammophila sabulosa L.: female; burrows in the sand, provisions its nest with caterpillars, peculiar for its very elongated waist (p. 22).

Fig. 8. Crabro cribrarius L.: male; peculiar for its paddle-like tibiæ and flattened antennæ (p. 103).

Fig. 9. Odynerus spinipes L.: male; peculiar for the form of its middle femora, which are cut out almost in two semicircles (p. 101); female makes a tubular entrance to her nest (p. 25).

PLATE B

Fig. 10.—Colletes succinctus L.: female; lines its cells with a gluey material (p. 44); colonizes in sandy banks; host of Epeolus rufipes (fig. 19).

Fig. 11. Sphecodes subquadratus Smith: female; cuckoo of a species of Halictus; female hibernates like its host (p. 17).

Fig. 12. Halictus lencozonius Schr.: burrows in the ground; the host of Sphecodes pilifrons Thoms (p. 17).

Fig. 13. Vespa crabro L.: female (the Hornet), nests in hollow trees; host of the rare beetle Velleius dilatatus (p. 38).

Fig. 14. Vespa vulgaris L.: female: one of our commonest wasps; nests usually in the ground (p. 35); host of a peculiar beetle (Metœcus paradoxus) (p. 38)

Figs. 15, 16. Andrena fulva Schr.: male and female; the bee which burrows in lawns, etc. (p. 9); host of Nomada ruficornis var. signata (p. 15).

Fig. 17. Panurgus ursinus Gmel.: Female; legs loaded with pollen, burrows in hard sandy paths, etc. (p. 49). Males sleep curled up amongst the rays of yellow composite flowers.

Fig. 18. Nomada ruficornis L. var. signata: cuckoo of Andrena fulva (figs. 15 and 16).

Fig. 19. Epeolus rufipes Thoms: female; cuckoo of Colletes succinctus (fig. 10).

PLATE C

Fig. 20.—Megachile maritima Kirby: female; burrows in the ground, makes its cells of pieces of leaves, which it cuts out with its mandibles; host of Cœlioxys conoidea.

Figs. 21, 22. Cœlioxys conoidea Illig: male and female; cuckoo of Megachile maritima.

Fig. 23. Burrows of Megachile Willughbiella Kirby, in a piece of rotten willow; each burrow originally contained six cells, but two of the left-hand series have been lost.

PLATE D

Figs. 24 and 25. Anthophora pilipes F.: male and female. A spring bee, the male of which may often be seen in gardens, darting from flower to flower (p. 81); while the female collects pollen; it forms large colonies (p. 62).

Fig. 26. Melecta armata Pz.: cuckoo of Anthophora pilipes.

Fig. 27. Anthidium manicatum L.: invests its cells with the down off the stems of labiate plants, which it strips off with its mandibles (p. 50).

Fig. 28. Osmia bicolor Schr.: female; nests in snail-shells, which it sometimes covers up with small pieces of grass-stems till a little mound is formed, resembling a diminutive ants' nest (p. 59).

Fig. 29. Bombus terrestris L.: female. One of the commonest of our Humble Bees; it nests in the ground. It is the host of Psithyrus vestalis, which resembles it very closely in colour; it is this species that was exhibited by Mr. Sladen at the Maidstone Agricultural Hall (p. 41).

Fig. 30. Bombus lapidarius L.: another common Humble Bee, also an underground builder; it is the host of Psithyrus rupestris.

Fig. 31. Psithyrus rupestris F.: female; the cuckoo of Bombus lapidarius, which it closely resembles except for the nearly black colour of the wings.

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THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL

Table of Contents

I think I ought here to say why I propose to limit myself to an account of a certain portion only of the Hymenoptera. The reason for this, in the first place, is that the section which I have selected is the only one of which I have any special knowledge; it consists of the bees, wasps, ants and sandwasps, four groups which